Age Old Feelings
by FlourTheCat
Summary: He found himself riddled with strange feelings that felt so...right.  Reincarnation fiction; canon character.  Oneshot.  Inexplicit spoilers.


I may rewrite this later. Probably not, though. Also, in the off chance that this actually gets some attention, and I can get an idea of where to take it, I may write other pieces to connect to it… If you don't understand anything, don't hesitate to ask.

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><p>He could never be described as a normal kid.<p>

He was always different. Always silent and obedient like no kid should be. His parents hadn't noticed, not until school. They were too glad to be out of the non-stop crying stage.

After all, how do you ignore a problem once Child Services comes knocking on your door?

The school was concerned for the child's health, which was a bright spot in a dull world. In this case, the parents had no responsibility for the child's personality. In fact, no one knew what caused the unnatural behavior.

For one, he was just silent. There was no doubt about the intelligence of the child. He was definitely average at the least, possibly above; in fact, at times he seemed to know things that he was never taught. He didn't particularly make friends, and mostly isolated himself. It was a trait that got him picked on, something he was superb at ignoring, an admirable trait in one so young.

He also kept his promises, and did everything and anything he was told to. Again, a strange and admirable trait in a young kid.

His parents and teachers were split on what to do with him. On one hand, they wanted to have him checked for mental illness, though on the other hand, he really didn't seem to need any help. This was questionable, however, as he seemed to sometimes speak to thin air occasionally, and other times just seemed to zone out.

Something he didn't tell people was that he saw and heard things. It was just a blur in his sight, but it sometimes talked to him, and he sometimes talked back.

And all this was just elementary school.

By the time middle school rolled around, the problems never went away.

He was still a mostly silent and obedient individual, yet, he had a loud voice that always spoke in even, calm tones, and he always seemed to do what was right. In another contradiction, whenever he was picked on, he rarely returned the favor, and just ignored it. Though it was good he didn't start fights, it was just unnatural for his age.

It didn't seem to bother him. Yet, not in the way of one who was naturally apathetic to it, but in the way of someone who was far too used to it.

Also, bubbling up in his personality was a sense of charisma and chivalry that far surpassed the teachings of his parents, and, yet again, seemed more like the trait of one who had practiced it for far too long.

He kept his grades up, though it stopped coming naturally and required more work on his part. What else did come naturally, however, was filling out the papers and doing work. He never complained about it, never asked for free time, and focused much of his efforts on doing so.

Even with this amount of effort, he was still picked on, and considered stupid. Many people believed that he would never make anything of his life. They based this on the fact that he didn't dream big. He dreamt realistically, wishing for a good job for a good living. He never allowed the opinions of those around him to hold him back.

Possibly more astounding than this, however, was the child's wish to change his name. It wasn't so much an uncommon request for children, but his choice and determination behind it was. Most children would want to be renamed to something proud and well known, but the name he chose was just a common name. Perhaps most baffling of all was where the name came from. No one seemed to know just where that particular name came from. They hadn't learned about the name in a history book, nor was it a character in a story. He literally seemed to pull it out of thin air, miraculously knowing the correct kanji for it.

It started with a test paper. He had unknowingly written the name on the paper, and threw the teachers for a loop. None of them knew who the mysterious man was, until they asked and he said simply, 'That's me."

Needless to say, more than a few people questioned his sanity following that.

Even himself. The name just felt right. He couldn't explain it, just like he couldn't explain why he could see ghosts.

He brushed it aside, and followed his heart.

In high school, his never took the advanced classes, and struggled with maths and sciences. History and languages, on the other hand, he excelled at. In fact, giving up the more entertaining electives, he was one of the few students who took two languages aside from Japanese, _and _learned diligently.

In fact, his English teacher once described how he learned as "One who already knew the language long ago, and was rediscovering it after many years. It's astounding."

Another trait of his was to eat absolutely everything and anything. As long as it wasn't Japanese. His parent's aren't sure where he got the taste for foreign food, but now, getting him to eat anything that originated in his birth land was impossible.

His popularity in school was rather questionable. His personality was rather likable; however, he had one major quirk. His obsession with rules. He followed all rules without question, even ones that others questioned and tried to rebel against. It was impossible to get him to understand that not all rules were for the best.

He kept his chivalrous personality aside from this, and tended to speak with a tone of kindness, even if he never really got close to people.

Still, many believed he would never succeed in life. After all, kindness gets you nowhere in a cruel world.

But, just as one who had the personality for far too long, he never changed.

And they were wrong.

In a surprise twist to all that even remotely knew him, the quirky but lovable student decided to pursue a military career.

"It just felt right," He had explained.

While in the army, the man had shown himself to be an excellent strategist, and followed orders without hesitation. Yet, in the case where there is no leader, he did not hesitate to step up and take charge. He was good with words and knew when to shut up. These traits mixed together made him a good subordinate, and he eventually found himself in the position of First Lieutenant, with a trusty and reliable Captain right above him.

He declined any promotions. His position felt right, but with a crucial difference that nagged at his mind…

He was loyal through and through, serving as if he had already served his captain for thousands of years. He planned on serving for the rest of his life.

Yet, it was not to be. His loyalty got in his way, and he found himself awakening in the Fourth Divis- ...hospital. He didn't know where the prior term came from.

His captain was by his side, with a look of immense guilt.

"He's too young for this. It's hard to forget his age if you look into his eyes and see his work. He shouldn't have to go through this." He had said.

The Lieutenant found himself persuaded to leave the army with an Honorable Discharge. Having his loyalty betray him, he was lost and confused, as he felt that his personal philosophy that he was using for a long time was just shattered.

He found himself out of place in a college. He couldn't remember why he let his Captain persuade him to leave. He didn't want to be here. He should be serving his captain faithfully as he had sworn to do, even if he didn't truly swear.

After a while, the ex-Lieutenant settled down into a college environment, continuing to pursue the languages that fascinated him so many years ago. There was something missing though. He regretted his choice to leave the army. Why did his Captain want him gone? Wasn't the injury he suffered a sign of his unwavering loyalty...? He could swear the pain burnt stronger when he thought about it. What was life if you didn't have a superior officer to serve...?

He found himself adopted like a dog into a company that specialized in translating foreign material.

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><p>"Hey—you sense that?"<p>

"Is that-?"

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><p>He worked at home. Yes, he had an office at the main building, but after years of working, his boss trusted him enough to allow him to work at home. It was a choice that he was grateful for, as the ride to the office was a pain in more ways then one.<p>

His life was actually pretty good, if a bit lonely at times. He never had any interest in pursuing a sexual relationship, and he never really did make friends, even in his short army career. He had a cat which held the title of Charles the Third, even though he couldn't remember having a first or a second.

He tried to ignore that his life could be downright painful. Whether it was emotional-he had the feeling that he was depressed, though he never got the chance-or physical or just flat out stressful.

So, while sitting in this quite home, it startled him when two familiar ghosts stepped into his quiet home. The ghosts he had seen since his middle school years tended to ignore him, as he ignored them. The closest contact he ever had with a ghost was when he pushed his commander out of the way of that building that an empty soul was about to destroy…He shook his head to rid his mind of the crippling memory, and redirected his attention to the two souls.

"...Lieutenants Kuchiki and Abarai…?" He said, desperately trying to figure out how he knew the souls. They were so familiar…yet he could swear that he never met them.

"Y-you remember us?" They look surprised.

"…" He didn't want to look like an inconsiderate fool, so he asked, "Previous Army mates, perhaps?"

"…Sort of…"

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><p>"We swear, sir!"<p>

". . ."

"…He…even knew who we were…"

The aged commander stared out past his balcony, not looking at anything.

'_Captain Kuchiki wasn't kidding… We really can't understand his pain…and we just opened an old wound…'_

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><p>His work sat ignored on his desk, as the man was too busy fighting with his back as it automatically arced away from the chair. He really hated when the medication didn't work…<p>

He rose to his feet as he was greeted with another visitor.

He could only stare at the man suddenly in the room, as he was pinned with a look that betrayed the pain hidden in the serious aura that the filled the room. He felt as if his body was swelling with the guilt of an age long oath that was broken. An age long oath that he never made.

He headed towards the kitchen, "I'll make some tea…sir," he muttered as he moved past the aged man, not sure why the sir decided to tack itself on. It just felt right.

"You're limping."

The blunt and concerned, yet slightly disbelieving comment caught him off guard. He stiffened slightly, "I'd rather not talk about it." He really didn't consider it limping, but whatever he was doing, he continued doing it into the kitchen.

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><p>'<em>It fits,'<em>The aged commander deduced from the office with a semi-depressed sigh.

'_The reincarnation cycle will go on.'_ He silently left the office, a part of his heart flaking off to join the dead but revived memories...

'_Goodbye, Lieutenant.'_


End file.
